Asian American

Encyclopedia : A : AS : ASI : Asian American

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An Asian American is generally defined as a person of Asian ancestry or origin who was born in or is an immigrant to the United States. The term Asian American was used informally by activists in the 1960s who sought an alternative to the term "Oriental" arguing that the term was derogatory and colonialist. Formal usage was introduced by academics in the early 1970s, notably by historian Yuji Ichioka, who is credited with popularizing the term. Today Asian American is the accepted term for most formal purposes, such as government and academic research. In common language, the full compound term Asian American is rarely used; instead the single adjective Asian is applied to people of Asian heritage.

As with other social identities, formal and common usage have changed markedly through the short history of this term. The most significant change occurred when the Hart-Celler Act of 1965 eliminated highly restrictive "national origins" quotas. The new country-specific quotas enabled significant immigration from every country in Asia, which led to dramatic and ongoing changes in the Asian American population. As a result of these population changes, the formal and common understandings of what defines Asian American have expanded to include progressively more of the people with ancestry from various parts of Asia.

Contents

The term Asian American

Definition

East Asian American:	Chinese American \| Japanese American \| Korean American \| Mongolian American \| Taiwanese American \| Tibetan American
Southeast Asian American:	Burmese American \| Cambodian American \| Filipino American \| Hmong American \| Indonesian American \| Laotian American \| Thai American \| Vietnamese American \| Singaporean American \| Malaysian American \| Timorese American \| Bruneian American
South Asian American:	Bangladeshi American \| Bhutanese American \| Indian American \| Indo-Caribbean American \| Maldivian American \| Nepalese American \| Pakistani American \| Sri Lankan American
Other:	Asian-Latino Americans
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